Yesterday I wrote about happiness as a natural state that we sometimes/oftentimes lose touch with. I don’t know about you, but I get caught up so much in the doing of my life that I sometimes forget about the being. I write about doing and being often because they are almost like moment-to-moment choices that are made throughout the day. I wanted to share with you these ideas as Part Two on Happiness.

Let me explain the part being and doing have in our happiness. As you and I go about our day we have all these decision points as to how we are going to experience the moment. The primary decision I am talking about is whether we are going to “be” in the moment or “do” in the moment. Being in the moment is flowing with your desires, expressing your uniqueness, having an open heart and mind, and co-creating with what is in the now. Doing is more habit driven, obligation focused, and past or future oriented. Both doing and being are part of the experience of life but being is much closer to the source of happiness, full passion, and aliveness of life.

Why is "being" closer to happiness and aliveness you might wonder? When I am being than I am in the presences of the moment, I am open to the creation of my experience. Doing is much more of the “have to” habits and actions we take without most of the time being aware. Yes there are many moments like that each day. If happiness is a way you like to be in the world then the goal is to have less time unaware and in the trance of life and more time in the now where there is infinite possibilities for joy, happiness and love.

Now I feel like I am kind of complicating this being and doing. I want to say, most important of all, there is nothing wrong with doing and as a matter of fact sometimes it is exactly what needs to happen. If however you bring awareness or consciousness to your doing then you can transform it into being in the moment. So as you are aware, you then change your doing into being. Happiness then becomes possible because you are present to what is in the moment.

Let me give you an example. Let’s say you get up in the morning and you have a routine. You comb or brush your hair, brush your teeth, have a cup of coffee, read the paper and eat some toast and then go off to work. Now that can be done unconsciously and in the pure mode of doing. In that mode there is very little chance for happiness because it is all done more in the trance of habit.

There is another way you can “be” in that routine. So you begin by brushing your hair and looking in the mirror and instead of having some harsh self-assessment, you appreciate and love yourself as you are. You decide to brush your teeth after coffee and toast and again with mirror time you can acknowledge yourself in a positive way. You might even rethink the coffee and plan for a more nutritious breakfast? Instead of filling your mind with thoughts from the newspaper, you decide to sit back, think, and visualize a wonderful day. Then as you head off to work you might play a CD in the car that uplifts you with music or ideas. Wouldn’t that very much shift your experience of your morning routine and open you to the joy of the moment?

So in the moments of each day their can be doing or being? You can be as happy as you choose to be.What will your choice be?